


You Don't Have to Be

by Cloud_Prime (Cloud_Nine)



Series: Heroes and Villains: So Much More [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Auradon doesn't like magic, Auradon isn't great about accepting other cultures, F/F, F/M, Great Stone Dragon Headcanon Hinted At, I also ignore the Isle of the Lost books unless they are convenient, I ignore Disney sequels unless they are convenient, Isle of the lost is a terrible place, Lonnie deserves better, Lonnie gets a chinese name cos lonnie is totally her english name, M/M, Not King Beast friendly, Original Character(s), United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Villains are terrible parents, and that causes problems, because we don't have much to work with, english is also called common, magical creature racism, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-10 23:45:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13512258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Nine/pseuds/Cloud_Prime
Summary: Li ‘Lonnie’ Lanying watched the Isle kids carefully.They were skinny, that was the first thing Lonnie had noticed about the new kids. The youngest boy, Carlos de Vil, was so small Lonnie almost couldn’t believe that he was old enough to attend Auradon Prep.The second thing Lonnie noticed was how uncomfortable they were in this place. It made sense of course. They were the children of some of the darkest, and most evil villains the world had ever seen and they were put right in the middle of a school with their parent’s worst enemies. It had to be uncomfortableThe third thing that Lonnie noticed was how much everyone seemed to hate them. It was subtle, of course. No one wanted to draw the ire of Prince Ben by not supporting his first proclamation. Or rather they didn’t want to risk upsetting the prince and thus upsetting his father. No one was willing to upset the Beastly King.





	1. Lonnie

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, this is basically a dump fic of all my descendants' headcanons. I love it and I hope someone enjoys it too. More tags will be added as the story goes on. If something doesn't make sense let me know and I'll try to explain or fix it. Enjoy.

Li ‘Lonnie’ Lanying watched the Isle kids carefully. They were skinny, that was the first thing Lonnie had noticed about the new kids. The youngest boy, Carlos de Vil, was so small Lonnie almost couldn’t believe that he was old enough to attend Auradon Prep. 

The second thing Lonnie noticed was how uncomfortable they were in this place. It made sense, of course. They were the children of some of the darkest, and most evil villains the world had ever seen and they were put right in the middle of a school with their parent’s worst enemies' children. It had to be uncomfortable 

The third thing that Lonnie noticed was how much everyone seemed to hate them. It was subtle, of course. No one wanted to draw the ire of Prince Ben by not supporting his first proclamation. Or rather they didn’t want to risk upsetting the prince and thus upsetting his father. No one was willing to upset the Beastly King. 

Despite what she saw it took Lonnie a few days to actually talk to them. She lied to herself and said it was to let them settle in but Lonnie knew herself better than that. Still, she eventually found the courage and before knew it she found herself standing in front of the boys' door. Lonnie had noticed that the four of them congregated in Carlos and Jay’s room more often than not. Lonnie only knew that because she had heard Fairy Godmother telling Mal and Evie that it wasn't proper to stay there too late and they would get in trouble they were found there after curfew. 

The door was open, thankfully, and Lonnie could hear soft voices talking in a language that wasn’t the common English. Lonnie winced, speaking something other than English was a good way to get detention, and the Chinese girl was sure that the Isle kids didn’t know that., 

“Knock, knock,” Lonnie said as she tapped on the wooden doorframe. Even though the door was open and that was typically a sign that the occupants were willing to have company Lonnie didn’t think barging in was a good idea. 

Sure enough, Mal and Jay almost jumped to attention. Lonnie tried to smile and laughed a little awkwardly. “Uh, sorry to bother you guys, I just wanted to come introduce myself,” Lonnie said. 

“Why?” Carlos asked from the bed that was likely his. The boy sounds bewildered and Lonnie could see confused looks on the other’s faces and she knew that she was likely their first visitor unless Prince Ben counted. 

Lonnie shrugged. “Can I come in?” 

Mal furrowed her brow but nodded and Lonnie smiled genuinely at the purple haired girl. “Thank you,” Lonnie said because her mother had raised her to be strong _and_ polite. “I’m Lonnie by the way, Li Lonnie.” 

Lonnie could see when they realized who her parents were. They almost seem to settle down. Mulan was a hero for sure, but she didn’t have a history with their parents. “I know who you all are,” She said when the Isle Kids didn’t seem inclined to speak up. “Everyone does, you’re coming here was a pretty big thing. No one thought Prince Ben was going to be able to do it, what with the Beast King being so against it.” 

Lonnie winced when she let the title ‘Beast King’ slip out. She could see some of the interested looks the four shot at her when she said it, so there was no chance they had missed it. The Beast King or the Beastly King was a not so flattering title for King Adam, who more often than not acted like the beast he had been transformed into so long ago. 

“Anyway, I just wanted to come introduce myself,” Lonnie said quickly to cover up her slip of the tongue. “Auradon is tough if you aren’t a prince or princess so if you ever need anything, I’d be willing to help.” 

Lonnie could see in their eyes they didn’t believe her and she didn’t blame them. If that had come from someone like Chad Charming she wouldn’t have believed it either. “Uh, so I guess I’ll leave you guys alone then, I room with Audrey,” It was only through sheer force of will that kept Lonnie from rolling her eyes at the thought of her roommate. “I'm just a few doors down from you, Mal and Evie.” 

Awkwardly Lonnie turned to leave and stopped. “Oh!” She said turning back around. “Just a heads up, because no one told me my first few weeks either, but it’s kind of a rule that we can only speak English here. If Fairy Godmother catches you speaking anything but Common here, you’ll get detention.” 

Lonnie didn’t wait to see what they thought about that, instead, the girl gave a half wave and slipped out of the room and back to her own. 

Audrey was in the room when Lonnie returned and the girl looked irritated but that didn’t stop her from pouncing on Lonnie in the minute she walked in. Audrey had always been incredibly nosey. 

“And where have you been?” Audrey asked. Lonnie could tell by her tone that the other girl was looking for a distraction and possibly a fight. 

Lonnie sighed and dropped down on her bed. It would almost be worth it to ignore her roommate and just close the curtains on her bed and go to bed early. “I stopped by and introduced myself to the new kids,” Lonnie said. Immediately she regretted it. 

Audrey puffed up like an angry bird and that was the start of a very long and loud night. 

\--

The next morning Lonnie was groggy and irritated. Audrey had kept her up for hours demanding to know why she had bothered to talk to the villain kids and just going on and on about what a bad idea Prince Ben’s whole plan was. The Chinese girl groaned and let her head fall to the table. She had stumbled into the dining hall grabbed a plate put a single banana on it and practically fell into her chair. 

The sound of feet and chairs being pulled back made her head shoot up in surprise. Lonnie was friendly but she wasn’t popular. She had casual friends like Jane the Fairy Godmother’s daughter but her closest friends had to be Raina Hood, Robin Hood’s oldest daughter, and Aziz, Aladdin and Jasmine’s son. However, neither Raina nor Aziz were morning people and often skipped breakfast. So it couldn't be them at her table.

“Oh, uh, hey,” Lonnie said blinking away sleep when she looked up. Mal gave the girl a look that Lonnie couldn’t quite understand from her seat across from her. 

The other Isle kids were similarly seated, Jay had taken the seat to Lonnie’s left and flashed a wide grin when Lonnie turned to look at him. Evie had taken the chair at the head of the table and Carlos was sitting by Mal across from Lonnie and Jay. 

“Here I thought you Princess types were always bright-eyed in the morning,” Jay said teasingly. In his hands, he held a bright orange and had a plate of waffles in front of him covered in honey. 

Lonnie snorted before she could start herself. “Who told you I was a princess?” Lonnie asked with a laugh in her voice. “I’m the furthest thing from a princess in this school, not only am I entirely human but my parents are soldiers.” 

“Really?” Evie asked sitting forward like Lonnie’s statement was a surprise. “I thought everyone was royalty here.” 

“Technically they are supposed to be,” Lonnie admitted. “My mom and dad had planned on sending me to a school closer to home, but after a thing with the Queen they offered me a place here, I’m here entirely on the goodwill of the crown.” 

“Kind of like us,” Carlos remarked as he poked at the scrambled eggs on his plate. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Lonnie said. The table fell into silence for a moment and the girl couldn’t help but wonder just what the Isle kids were doing at her table. She had never seen them sit with anyone before for any meal and they had only spoken once. 

“The thing about Common is that true, or where you just fucking with us,” Jay tossed out, casually as if he didn’t care but Lonnie knew better. 

“No it’s true,” Lonnie said. She didn’t take offense to the idea that she could have been just messing with them. Auradon wasn’t perfect and there are tons of students who would love to take advantage of the Isle kids like that. “When I first started here I didn’t know either and Fairy Godmother gave me several detentions until I just stopped.” 

Lonnie frowned as she remembered being a nervous freshman being told she wasn’t allowed to speak her first language. It had been tough because Lonnie’s common had been good but she had a noticeable accent. She had hardly spoken at all her Freshman year because of it. 

“Harsh,” Carlos said stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth. 

Lonnie nodded. “It totally was,” She said. “I had never really spoken common until I came here, mom and dad made sure I knew it but we never spoke it at home. What about you guys? Does everyone on the Isle speak common?” 

All of the villains surely knew common, and even if they preferred their native languages their children must have learned it sometime, right? Most of the Isle kids spoke common well enough. 

The Isle kids shrugged off the question and began very subtly asking their own questions. They asked about other rules that Ben or Fairy Godmother hadn’t mentioned. Lonnie did her best to explain all of the almost unspoken rules of Auradon Prep. 

Lonnie explained that even though no one said it outright the student kitchens were open until curfew and all the food was communal. She wasn’t blind to the way they guarded their plates or how much food they had piled on. Lonnie’s long-term friendship with Aziz helped her notice the fruits stuffed in Jay’s pockets and the bread Carlos had wrapped up and put in his own. Aziz had told Lonnie once that his dad still hoarded food, too many years as a street rat had left the habit burned in his very soul. 

Lonnie explained how the class schedules worked and which teachers were nice and which ones were terrible. “Most of the teachers aren’t tied to any particular story, thankfully. One good thing about Fairy Godmother is that she hired basically a bunch of nobodies to teach here, otherwise everyone would play favorites more than they already do.” 

When the first bell for classes rang the Isle kids followed Lonnie and put away their dishes and the girl didn’t see them again for the rest of the day. 

\--

“So did you really have breakfast with the Isle kids?” Aziz asked tossing the bright red apple he had nicked from the kitchens up in the air. 

Lonnie nodded and frowned down at her history book, in an attempt to concentrate. 

“Yeah, I stopped by and introduced myself last night, hey Aziz what year did your great-great-grandfather take the throne?” Lonnie said, throwing her question at the last. She didn’t see the point in the homework but she was still going to try. The Isle kids were just looking for someone to answer a few questions it wasn’t a big deal. 

“I don’t know,” Aziz said making a face. “Like 100 years ago or something, pay attention to me!” 

Lonnie rolled her eyes but snapped her book shut. “You are such a baby,” Lonnie said flicking her pen cap at her friend. 

The boy from Agrabah grinned and snapped up the pen cap. “Mine now! Oh hey, there’s Raina. Over here!” 

Lonnie turned and waved at the other girl who had just finished archery practice. “Hey Lon, hey Az. What are we talking about?” 

Raina had copper colored hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail. It was still wet, indicating that she had showered after practice. Raina had dark eyes and a playful vulpine grin that was rumored to come from an ability of her family to transform into foxes. Neither Lonnie nor Aziz had gotten their friend to admit whether that was true or not. 

“Lonnie’s made friends with the Isle kids,” Aziz said in a sing-song voice. “They had breakfast and everything.” 

“We’ve spoken all of two times,” Lonnie laughed. “I don’t think that equals friendship.” 

“What did you talk about?” Raina asked curiously. Aziz leaned forward just as eager. When his parents had found out that Jafar’s son was coming to Auradon Prep they had offered to pull him out of school but the boy had refused. He didn’t know Jafar as anything other than a bedtime story villain and this boy, his son, had never done anything to him, but he was still curious. 

“I told them about the common rule and stuff about the kitchens is all,” Lonnie said simply. The Chinese girl took the opportunity to stretch out on the grass. She, Aziz, and Raina had always tried to study outside and the patch of warm grass under a nice tree was their favorite place. 

“Ah so you told them about the racism,” Aziz said nodding his head sagely, only half joking. Lonnie snorted and closed her eyes. 

“Huh, well whatever you told them Lonnie evidently they appreciated it ‘cos here they come,” Raina said. Her voice sounded surprised and Lonnie’s eyes shot open and there they were all four of them. 

Mal looked like she was on a mission. Evie didn’t appear to have a care in the world. Carlos looked hesitant and Jay flashed a grin that promised things Lonnie didn’t want to think about. But they were definitely headed their way. 

“Aziz, you cool?” Lonnie asked softly before they came within earshot. 

The brown boy nodded and flashed a charming smile her way just as the Isle kids reached them. 

Lonnie sat up and smiled. “Hey guys, feel free to pull up some grass,” Lonnie said. “What’s up? How’s class going?” 

Jay flopped dramatically onto the ground and groaned like someone stabbed him. Mal and Carlos followed but with less dramatics. Evie fretted and looked disdainfully at the grass. Aziz sensing her discomfort, stood and whipped off his jacket. “Here,” the boy said. “You can sit on this so you don’t mess up your dress.” 

Evie took the jacket gratefully and Lonnie elbowed her friend in the knee. “Wow, who knew your mom’s lessons actually sank in, here I thought you took after your dad!” 

Aziz smiled widely and flopped back down next to Lonnie and Raina. “I’m quite charming, I’ll have you know.” 

Raina laughed into her hands. “Ignore him, he thinks he’s more charming than he really is,” Raina said waving her hand at Aziz. 

“So what’s up guys? Everything going okay?” Lonnie asked looking the Isle kids over. “Did you need to know anything else about the school? Did Prince Ben assign you guys a tour guide?” 

Mal nodded. “Some dwarf kid named Doug?” Mal said. She sounded unsure but Lonnie recognized the name. So did Raina and Aziz. 

“Oh wow, I didn’t think he’d ask Doug, considering the history and everything,” Aziz said thoughtlessly. The Isle kids stiffened and Lonnie smacked her friend. 

“Ignore him, he’s a dumbass,” Lonnie said. “Oh this is Aziz and she’s Raina, by the way.” 

Aziz smiled cheesily and Raina gave a little wave. The Isle kids looked over Lonnie’s friends like they were particularly vicious animals. Lonnie wanted to explain that they were fine, Raina didn’t care and Aziz said he didn’t either but Aziz spoke before Lonnie could. 

“I’m Jasmine and Aladdin’s son,” Aziz explained. He ignored Jay’s stiffening and the other’s tense looks, or Lonnie thought he ignored them Aziz was too watchful to have not seen it. 

“I’m Raina Hood,” Raina said to draw attention away from Aziz and Jay. “My dad is Robin Hood.” The Isle kids didn’t seem to react to Raina’s parentage like they had Aziz. 

“Hey, no need to be weird or anything,” Aziz said waving a hand when he saw the look still on Jay’s face. “I don’t care who your parents are or if they have a history with mine or not, really.” Lonnie could see that Aziz was serious and his words were genuine. 

The Isle kids didn’t look convinced but Lonnie spoke up to keep Aziz from continuing. “So what did you guys need?” Lonnie asked. “I was serious about helping if I could.” 

Mal seemed to relax at that, something about Lonnie’s words reminded her of why they were there. “You weren’t lying about the common thing,” Mal said, even though Lonnie had assured her that it was true at breakfast the Isle kids hadn’t believed her. “I spoke a little French around Fairy Godmother and she gave me a warning.” 

“You got a warning? No fair!” Aziz said playfully. “I was trying to teach Lonnie here Arabic last year and we both got three days detention.” 

“You speak Arabic?” Jay asked as he shot Lonnie a look. 

The Asian girl nodded. “Well, Agrabah is China’s closest neighboring power and my mom and dad are good friends with the Sultan and Sultana, plus Aziz and I have known each other for ages,” Lonnie explained. “He knows Chinese too.” 

“Cool,” Mal says, her voice implies that she doesn’t care much but instead had other things on her mind. “So what you said about the kitchens is true too, right? That we can use it?” 

Lonnie nodded. “Yeah, it’s open to students until curfew,” Lonnie said. 

“And we don’t have to pay for it?” Carlos clarified. “The food is free?” 

“Well, yeah,” Lonnie said shooting a confused look at her friends. “You guys don’t have to pay for anything here, didn’t Prince Ben or Doug explain that?” 

“Oh, I’m sure he was just busy and forgot,” Evie said sweetly. 

“Did he at least tell you guys about your stipend?” Aziz asked. 

“What stipend?” Mal questioned. Her voice was even but hard. 

“When Ben enacted his proclamation, he went to my parents, uh the Radcliffe’s, Snow White and Audrey’s family and, well he didn’t ask permission so much as he tried to explain what his thought process was,” Aziz winced as he remembered Sleeping Beauty’s family’s reaction. “It didn’t go over well with some of them, but he explained the whole process.” 

“What does that mean?” Mal demanded.

“Well you guys get a living stipend for just like casual spending money,” Aziz paused and Lonnie could see a light blush on his darker skin. “Actually, the stipend was donated by our parents. King Phillip was against it, but Queen Aurora thought it was a great idea so she obviously won.” 

The Isle kids looked completely blown away, but Aziz pushed onward. 

“But, um, you get the stipend, you have to take the remedial goodness class, and you don’t get to take any magic classes this semester,” Aziz ticked off the conditions on his fingers. “That’s basically what they decided, but I can’t believe Ben didn’t mention the stipend to you. How have you been without it?” 

“Oh, we’ve made due,” Evie said sweetly. 

“Like we always have,” Jay said flashing a wild grin. 

Lonnie wisely kept to herself how much he looked like Aziz at that moment. Evidently, Raina noticed it too by how she laughed. 

“I’ll talk to Ben about it later,” Aziz promised. “It’s not fair that you guys don’t get the stipend you were promised.” 

“And, fella, you’ll wanna be careful with your making due,” Raina said wiggling her fingers. “Auradon doesn’t look kindly on us thief types if you get my meaning. Some of the other students still give me and ol’ Aziz the side-eye when something goes missing.” 

“Why you two?” Mal asked as she looked from Raina to Aziz. 

“Pops is a big fan of wealth redistribution, rob from the rich and all that,” Raina said with an easy smile. “And Aziz here inherited his dad’s sticky fingers.” 

“It’s a compulsion!” Aziz whined twirling a pen he had pulled seemingly out of nowhere. 

“Hey give that back!” Lonnie shouted when she noticed the pen. “Quit taking my pens, jerk.” 

After that, the conversation dropped off and the Isle kids stood up and slunk away. The pen Lonnie and Aziz had been fighting over mysteriously disappeared sometime between when Lonnie tackled Aziz and when Jay left but Lonnie didn’t really mind. 

\--

“They’re like wild cats,” Raina said with a small laugh. “They show up, take what they want and then slink off to do who knows what.” 

Lonnie giggled and shook her head. “No way, Mal maybe, but Evie is too sweet to be a cat and have you see Carlos with Dude? Definitely not a cat.” 

Raina paused in thought and nodded thoughtfully. “Okay you’ve got me there, and what about Jay? Is he a cat?” 

Lonnie nodded almost automatically. “Oh yeah but he’s no house cat, have you seen him on the Tourney Field? He’s like a tiger hunting his prey,” Lonnie said. She could remember playing in Agrabah with Aziz when they were little. Sultana Jasmine’s tiger had been watching them and had taught them how to hunt. The way the tiger had moved reminded her of Jay. 

The two girls were headed to the kitchens for a midnight snack. Audrey had taken over her and Lonnie’s shared room so Lonnie had fled to Raina’s room to collect her friend for a snack. 

The two girls pushed open the doors to the kitchens and Raina smirked. “Speaking of cats…” She said in a soft playful voice. 

“Shut up,” Lonnie hissed. 

“Hey guys, what are you making?” Lonnie said joining the Isle kids around the counter where they had set up for cooking. 

“Oh you know, just a little midnight snack,” Mal said. 

Lonnie peered into the bowl, it looked like cookie or cake batter, without thinking she swiped a little and popped it in her mouth. 

“No!” The Isle kids seemed to shout together. Lonnie gave Raina a strange look and her friend shrugged. 

“No worries, I’m not going to double dip,” Lonnie assured them. 

“So uh, does it taste like it needs anything?” Mal asked awkwardly. 

Lonnie stopped and thought to herself and turned to get something from the refrigerator, but came face to face with Jay. “Hey,” he said giving Lonnie a flirtatious smile. 

Lonnie choked back a laugh and but said to Raina. “Hey get the chips from the ‘fridge,” Lonnie asked. 

“Chips?” Carlos asked reaching out to pet Dude. Lonnie noticed for the first time the pup was sitting in a metal mixing bowl. 

“Chocolate or butterscotch?” Raina asked from the ‘fridge. 

“Chocolate, definitely,” Lonnie said taking the bag gratefully when Raina handed it to her. 

“Good choice,” Raina said. “Chocolate chips make everything better.” 

Lonnie took the bag and dumped a healthy amount of chips into the batter.

“There, perfect!” Raina chripped hopping up onto the counter. “Nothing better than chocolate chip cookies.” 

Lonnie rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friend but stopped when she saw the confused looks on the Isle kids faces. 

“What’s that?” Carlos asked peering into the batter and poking at a chocolate chip that ended up close to the edge. 

“Chocolate?” Lonnie said but it came out more like a question. 

“Yeah,” Carlos said distrustfully. 

“Chocolate chips, you know for chocolate chip cookies?” Raina said as she gave the Isle kids a strange look. “You know when you’ve had a bad day and your mom makes you cookies and they’re still warm and gooey and you just know that she loves you...”

The Isle kids still looked confused so Lonnie stepped in, “In my house, we made red bean buns, but the meaning is the same. They’re a great comfort food. Did you ever do anything like that with your parents?” 

“No,” Mal said shortly. “Never. No one cares if we are upset.” 

“Never?” Lonnie questioned. Lonnie had ever really thought about it but it made some sick sense. The villains weren’t locked away on the Isle of the Lost because they were good people, it made sense that having children wouldn’t fix that. 

“Oh,” Raina said softly. The redhead had practically deflated and Lonnie didn’t feel much better. 

The Isle kids stood awkwardly not meeting Lonnie or Raina’s eyes. 

Lonnie felt like a rock settled deep in her stomach and made it hard to breathe. “I guess I thought that even villains loved their kids, you know?” Lonnie said looking up at Mal. “I’m so sorry.” Without her consent, a lone tear crawled down her face and quicker then Lonnie could blink Mal reached out and wiped away the tear. 

A few minutes later Lonnie blinked and beside her Raina did so as well. “What just happened?” Lonnie asked. 

“I have no idea,” Raina said. “I think they kicked us out.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” Lonnie admitted. “They didn’t even let us grab a snack.” 

Just as Lonnie said the doors to the kitchen opened and Jay’s head poked out. “Here, apples,” he said tossing both girls an apple apiece. “Night, ladies!” 

Lonnie looked down at the bright shiny apple and shrugged. Better than nothing. 

\--

“Sooo, love potion?” Aziz asked looking at his best friends like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. 

Raina nodded with a certainty that made it hard to disagree with her. “It makes sense, Prince Ben just up and dumped Audrey, and publically too,” she explained. “That’s totally out of character for him and I was thinking about that night we found them in the kitchen, remember Lonnie? You cried and Mal was really quick to grab your tear. Now I’m no magician but tears, especially of strong emotion are pretty powerful things.” 

“Why would they do that though?” Aziz asked throwing his hands up. “What would that get them?” 

“Maybe, Mal has a crush and doesn’t know how to go about talking to Prince Ben?” Lonnie suggested. “I mean dating on the Isle couldn’t have been easy.” 

“But a love potion is pretty bad stuff,” Aziz shoots back. “Like assault bad.” 

“Definitely,” Lonnie agreed. “I’m not saying it excuses her if she did slip him a potion but maybe it explains it.” 

The three of them had taken over Raina’s room. Raina’s roommate Ally was out playing princess with Ruby Fitzherbert, her sister Anxelin, and Jane. Lonnie had been concerned about Prince Ben’s sudden shift in behavior. 

“Should we confront them?” Raina asked looking at Aziz and Lonnie. “Tell Mal that we noticed they were making a potion or something that night?” 

“Not all of us," Lonnie decided. “It’ll feel more like an attack, a real confrontation.” 

“But we could handle it right?” Aziz asked worriedly. “If something happened.” 

“Hey, I don’t like how we suddenly decided that something is going to happen,” Lonnie said turning to Aziz where he sat on the floor. “We don’t even know for sure if they did use a love potion on the Prince.” 

“And we could totally take them,” Raina said with a smirk. “The three of us are some of the best sword users on campus. Plus Lonnie’s been practically trained from birth to fight.” 

Lonnie rolled her eyes at her friends. “Look, I’ll talk to them about it. One person asking a question is better than three people demanding answers, okay?” 

Aziz and Raina seemed alright with the plan, but Raina did suggest that Aziz tell Prince Ben to take Mal to the enchanted lake for their first date. If it was a love potion the lake would wash away any enchantments on him. 

In the end, Lonnie never got the chance to ask the Isle kids about the love potion and even after taking a dip in the enchanted waters Ben and Mal remained together. 

\--

“Please, my father won’t get within one hundred feet of the Beast King,” Raina said bitterly. Family day was coming up and Lonnie, Raina, and Aziz had taken over their spot below a nice tree to do homework. 

“My parents are coming,” Lonnie said. “You can hang out with us if you don’t mind my brother being there too.” 

“Or with me, you know Mom and Dad love you,” Aziz told Raina. 

“Oh! Hey Jay! Congrats on the score the other day!” Lonnie called suddenly. 

Jay who had just been passing by turned to Lonnie and smirked. The Isle boy practically glided to where the three had made themselves at home and sunk to the ground. “Yeah, it was pretty great, wasn’t it?” 

Lonnie and Raina laughed at the boy’s attitude. Aziz, who was also on the Tourney team, nodded. “You were great man! No one is willing to play rough!” 

“You scored a good goal too,” Jay admitted nodding to the son of his father’s enemy. The prince preened at the praise. 

“Oh no, now he’ll never shut up,” Raina said dramatically. “Maybe I’ll hang with the Li's during family day that way I don’t have to hear you tell that story over and over again to your parents all day.” 

Lonnie laughed at Aziz’s pout. “I don’t tell the story over and over again.” 

“Yes, you do,” Lonnie said dryly. “I’ve heard it at least six times, and I was there.” 

Jay laughed and Lonnie felt herself grow happy. Ever since the night in the kitchen where the Isle kids admitted their parents didn’t love them, she had rather protective of the Isle four. Whenever they seemed to be enjoying themselves she felt better. 

“So, uh, what’s family day?” Jay asked. The boy had taken to plucking at the grass as if to give his hands something to do. “And why wouldn’t Raina’s dad show up?”

Lonnie’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t thought Jay was close enough to hear that part of the conversation, but still, she answered. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Everyone's parents show up, there’s a big feast at the end. This time everyone is also using it as a chance to party before Prince Ben’s coronation.” 

“And by everyone, Lonnie means that kings and queens who managed to score an invite,” Raina said. “Those a little lower on the pole won’t be invited to the coronation even if they do show up to family day.” 

Aziz rolled his eyes. “You act like your parents are carrot farmers or something, Rain,” Aziz said. “Your dad’s a Lord or something.” 

“So why wouldn’t he be invited,” Jay asked curiously. Lonnie had noticed he didn’t seem to happy about the idea of a family day but was more curious about Raina. 

Raina grinned widely and flashed her teeth. “Well, until five years ago, Sherwood Forest was still independent and not part of the United States of Auradon and we only joined because the Beast King starved us out and promised no retribution if we joined up.” 

“What?” Jay said sitting up. “No way!” 

Raina’s smile turned grim. “Sure did, didn’t you ever wonder why I go to school here instead of back home? It’s a peace offering of sorts. As long as I’m here dad wouldn’t risk going back to war with Auradon.” 

“Woah,” Jay whispered. 

“Yeah, Auradon isn’t a great as it claims,” Raina said laying back on the grass. 

Lonnie saw a strange look come into Jay’s eyes and she couldn’t quite place it. 

“Well,” Aziz said without thinking. “At least this year Rania, having your dad show up wouldn’t be the worst parent to come.” 

Lonnie, Aziz, and Raina froze when they realized just what Aziz had said and who he had said it in front of, but after a moment Jay laughed. 

“Ha! You prissy hero kids wouldn’t know what to do if my dad showed up,” Jay taunted mirthfully.

“That’s true,” Aziz admitted sheepishly. “It would be exciting, though, that’s for sure.” 

“Yeah,” Lonnie said watching the Isle kid thoughtfully. "Exciting is certainly a word for it.” 

\--

It was strange that after the conversation about family day Lonnie, Raina, and Aziz saw more and more of the Isle kids. It was subtle but they definitely came around more, and it wasn’t just because of Lonnie anymore either. Carlos had approached Aziz for Tourney tips. Evie had complimented Raina on her outfit one day and the two had disappeared for an hour and Raina had appeared with a new archery outfit. Jay had oddly enough stuck around Lonnie. 

“So what’s up with you three anyway?” Jay asked throwing a ball, Lonnie wasn’t going to ask where he got it, she knew better than that, against the wall of her dorm. Audrey was off with Chad, thankfully, so they had the place to themselves. 

“Hmmm?” Lonnie asked. They had been playing a pvp fighter game when Lonnie paused it to run to the restroom. When she came back Jay had the ball and was waiting with questions. “Raina, Aziz, and me?” 

Jay nodded and Lonnie used the controller in her hand to move to the character selection menu of the game. “Well Aziz and I have been friends for ages and we met Raina when we started school. She was angry and didn’t have any friends here so we became her friends.” 

“So is what Raina said about her dad true? Was Sherwood Forest really at war with Auradon?” Jay asked fiddling with the controller. He had dropped the ball and went immediately for his favorite character. 

“Oh yeah,” Lonnie said. “Sherwood wasn’t wasn’t the only one either, back in the day certain kingdoms only agreed to join if they got certain magic permits, you know since the King is so against magic. Sherwood Forest just didn’t like the idea of giving up sovereignty, I guess.” 

“You sure know a lot about this stuff,” Jay tossed out looking at Lonnie. His gaze was hard and held a spark that looked like Jay was seeing Lonnie for the first time. 

“Well, I mean, my parents are military and it’s kind of expected that I do the same,” Lonnie explained. “My mother always insists that I need to know my history and the history of our world if I want to be good at that.” 

“You know, Auradon is pretty strange,” Lonnie said looking down at her controller. “They say they locked up the villains to put the past behind them and to make a better future but they spend a lot of time at this school trying to make us our parents.”


	2. Aziz & Jay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dreaded family day has arrived but with the Isle kid's newest group of 'friends', it goes a little differently than in canon.

Jay liked Li Lonnie. He had liked her since the moment he met her. It wasn’t a big thing, not really. Jay liked a lot of people, but that was the attitude that got him in trouble back on the Isle because that was how he met Mal. 

“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” Carlos had asked when Lonnie left. “About the language thing?” 

Carlos had grown up speaking Common because that’s what Cruella spoke, but when he was very young during one of her rages Cruella had howled about Carlos’ no good, terrible father who spoke that horrible language, Spanish. He made it his mission to learn his father’s language. 

By the time Jay took an interest in Carlos, the younger boy had managed to pick up a bastardized version that was a mix between what Blackbeard’s crew spoke and the two-bit skeleton singer who had been booted to the island a few years ago. He loved the language and knowing that it wasn’t welcome in Auradon was likely a big disappointment for the boy. 

Jay had his own worries about the use of Common. It wasn't well known, and really only Mal, Evie, and Carlos knew but Jay’s Common was far from perfect. Jafar had refused to speak anything but Arabic unless he was dealing with a customer. It wasn’t until the failed school experience that the Isle put forth that Jay ever really heard Common. 

Once, Jay and the others entered into their arrangements of protection they had begun teaching the older boy Common. It was slow going because Jay knew if he slipped or if it got around to Jafar that his son was speaking Common, well the former Royal Vizier of Agrabah would not be happy with his son. 

“Fuck,” Jay swore in Arabic. “What am I going to do? My Common isn’t good enough for this!” 

Mal frowned, she was the only one who was just as fluent in Arabic as Jay. Evie and Carlos were good, but Mal, being fae, was just better. “We will make it work. You understand Common just fine,” Mal said thinking hard. “I’ll check my spellbook and see if I can’t find something. Just play up the strong silent type.” 

The long-haired boy huffed angrily and scrubbed at his face. 

“They don’t even offer classes on languages,” Evie remarked flipping through her class schedule and the course catalog that she had lifted off of Doug during the tour. “Oh wait, there is a French class but it’s for two hours on Saturdays.” Evie wrinkled her nose at the thought of school on a Saturday. 

“Why did she warn us?” Jay asked aloud. The leather-clad boy asked the question more to Mal then the others. Learning at the knee of the evilest villain on the Isle had made Mal savvier to these things. “Audrey would have let us get in trouble.” Like any Isle kid would, was left unsaid. 

“She’s Mulan’s kid right?” Carlos asked interrupting the conversation. “Maybe it’s an honor thing? Heroes are into that right?”

The others shrug helplessly. The idea of honor was pretty foreign on the Isle. Honor would get you killed. 

“No,” Mal said shaking her head. “She wants something, even if she doesn’t know what it is yet.”

“You think so?” Evie asked as she buffed her nails. 

“I know so,” Mal said, her eyes flashed a bright green. “I know so.” 

\--

“Hey, Ben!” Aziz called out to his friend. Aziz and Ben had just finished Tourney practice and Aziz wanted to catch Ben before he went off to help Carlos. 

“Hey, Az’,” Ben said with a smile. “What’s up?” 

“I just wanted to talk to you about the Isle kids,” Aziz said as he ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long, the next time he went home his mother was going to insist on a trim. 

Ben’s face fell. “Not you too,” Ben moaned. The other boy seemed to slump in defeat. “What could they possibly have done? You and Jay were on the same team so he couldn’t have hit you. Was it Mal? Doug is scared of her.” 

Aziz snorted in laughter and waved his hand dismissively. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” Aziz assured him. “I’m pretty sure Lonnie is secretly trying to befriend them all anyway.” 

That seemed to perk the young prince up, so Aziz pushed on. “No, it’s about their stipend,” Aziz said getting into the heart of the matter. “I know Mom and Dad set one up for Jay and they haven’t received it yet. When will they?” 

Ben’s face fell again. “Prince Phillip backed out,” Ben said with a shake of his head. “So Dad pulled the whole thing. He said it wouldn’t be fair to give some of them the stipend and not the others.” 

Aziz had to bite his tongue to keep from commenting on the Beast King’s idea of fairness. Aladdin and Jasmine didn’t have much of a problem with King Adam. They weren’t too happy when the Beast’s army rolled into Agrabah and demanded loyalty and with the aid of the Genie they had been prepared to give King Adam a very firm, “No thank you.” But in the end, something happened and Agrabah found itself as a state in the United State of Auradon. Aziz, on the other hand, was best friends with Raina, he had seen how some kingdoms weren’t a lucky as Agrabah. And still, every so often Aziz would notice that his parents weren't quite as keen on Auradon as they claimed to be.

“Do my parents know?” Aziz asked he could feel himself stepping more into the role of the Prince of Agrabah speaking to the High Prince and less of a friend speaking to a friend. Because Aziz had a feeling if the Sultan and Sultana knew there would be more screaming.

“My father was going to inform them,” Ben said. His own voice and worlds reflected the shift in the conversation.

“Was it only Queen Aurora and King Philip that pulled out of the deal?” Aziz asked, his mind spinning. 

“The Radcliffe’s did ask for assistance but since King Philip changed his mind, my Father decided it wasn’t necessary,” Ben told Aziz. 

“Agrabah will pay for it,” Aziz said almost without thinking. From the look Ben gave him, the High Prince had noticed as well. “I’ll call my Father right away and we’ll get it to you in writing. We’ll pay for Mal, Jay, and Carlos’ stipend.” 

“Aziz, you don’t have to do this,” Ben said slowly. 

“No, I don’t, but my parents were talking about how I needed to start taking more of an interest in things and this is how I’m doing it,” Aziz said firmly. “They need money Ben, it’s impossible to live here without it and them not having it is just going to drive the wedge between us further and further. Have the Treasury release the funds and you’ll be reimbursed by Agrabah within the day.”

The two young princes stared at each other for a long while. Each taking stock of the other. It was in moments like this when they remembered they were more than boys playing sports and children playing kingdom. They were princes, and in Ben’s case soon to be a king. Their words meant things in ways that they didn’t before. 

“Your mom’s going to kill you,” Ben joked breaking the tense silence. 

Aziz laughed loudly and shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think so,” Aziz said slinging his arm around Ben’s shoulders. “I think she might even be proud of me or something.” 

\--  
Jay looked down at the check in his hands and felt his eyes widen. He had never seen that much money in his entire life. “This is ours?” He asked Fairy Godmother sure that the number printed on the check couldn’t possibly be right. He spoke slowly so as not to trip on the words and beside him, he could see Mal, Evie and Carlos’ shocked faces as well. 

“Of course!” Fairy Godmother said as if she couldn’t believe they were questioning her about it. “The Kings and Queens of Auradon decided that to help you all best fit in they would provide a stipend for your living expenses.” 

“And we can spend it on whatever we want?” Carlos asked his voice was flat, because like the others he knew that much money wasn’t just given to people. But Jay could tell that he was already picturing buying more junk to tinker with, the kid was an inventor at heart and always would be. 

“And we don’t have to pay it back, right?” Evie questioned sweetly. You could take the kid off the Isle but the Isle never left someone, and on the Isle nothing was free. She held the check closer to her chest and Jay also knew what she was going to spend it on like she needed more clothes. 

“That is correct,” Fairy Godmother said with a smile. Jay wanted to steal her perfect, glittering jewelry and see if she still smiled like that., 

“You really expect me to believe that Philip and Aurora gave me this?” Mal said dryly. She had been looking at the check like a particularly interesting bug since Fairy Godmother put it in her hand. Jay sniggered into his hand but he had to agree, there was no way Audrey’s parents agreed to that. Someone must have made them. 

Ben who had been standing quietly to the side coughed and stepped forward. “Originally, yes they were the ones who agreed to fund the stipend but, uh, there was an incident but another funder was found. Snow White did provide Evie’s stipend and she also included the option to reach out to her if you wanted, Evie, since she said you are step-sisters after all.” 

Something Jay couldn’t identify flashed in Evie’s eyes and the blue haired girl smiled and nodded gratefully. 

“The Sultan and Sultana of Agrabah fully funded Jay’s and they provided assistance to the Radcliffe’s to supplement Carlos’,” Ben explained giving them a disarming smile. “Both families offered the same option to reach out if either of you needs any more assistance.” 

Jay shook his head. It wasn’t likely that he would ever seek out Jafar’s old enemies. The closest he could ever see himself getting was speaking to Aziz. 

“But what about mine?” Mal demanded. She clenched her hands, the check rumpling slightly. “Who would possibly do this for me, for Maleficent’s kid?” 

“Your doner wishes to stay anonymous, Mal,” Ben said regretfully. Jay got the idea that he was regretful, for some reason he wished Mal’s sponsor had stepped up. “They were rather insistent on that front, but I can pass along any messages that you have for them.” 

Mal scowled hatefully and glared down at the check in her hands. Jay knew she hated not knowing who was giving her this and what they expected in return. Jay decided to step in before Mal really lost her temper. “So,” He said cheerfully. “Where can we cash these babies?” 

Ben laughed and shook his head. “I’ll show you,” he said. “I’ll take care of things from here Fairy Godmother, thank you” 

Jay followed Ben away from Fairy Godmother’s office. The prince said they were going to some treasury room and Jay could already feel his fingers itch. A sudden flash of movement from the corner of his eye made Jay stop down the hall, just casually leaning against the wall was Aziz. Jay met the other boy’s eye and the Prince of Agrabah grinned and winked. Jay narrowed his eyes and Aziz’s grin grew larger. 

“Jay! Come on!” Carlos said from several feet away. Jay had obviously fallen behind when he noticed Aziz standing there. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Jay said with a frown. Aziz waved as Jay turned to rejoin his friends. For some reason, Jay got the idea that he knew who Mal’s anonymous donor was. 

\-- 

“Aaand, there! Perfect common!” Mal said with a flourish. The purple haired girl had not stopped looking for a spell that would help Jay with his common. She ended up creating her own spell, a combination of a fast reading spell and a spell that encouraged learning quickly. Jay had liberated a book on common from the library and used it to polish his common. 

“And this is permanent, right? I’m not going to start slipping into Arabic when it wears off?” Jay demanded. He noticed right away that common was easier. He didn’t have to think quite so hard about his words and his accent had lessened some as well. 

“You’ve learned it,” Mal said thoughtfully. “I just helped you learn it faster.” The purple haired girl blinked in surprise when she noticed that Evie and Carlos were gone. “Hey, where did the others go?” 

Jay yawned widely. It was the weekend, Ben’s coronation was coming up quickly and the family day thing Lonnie and the others mentioned was even closer. Ben and Mal had gone on two other dates since the first one where Mal came back soaking wet. She hadn’t explained why, no matter how much Jay demanded answers. “Evie is off dressmaking and Carlos is training with Ben again,” Jay said trying to remember if Evie had actually said where she was going or not. 

“Hmm, well come on, let’s show off your new common mastery,” Mal said standing from the bed where she had been studying before casting the spell on Jay. Jay shrugged and pushed himself to his feet, he didn’t have anything else to do. He could have gone to practice with Carlos and Ben but he hadn’t felt like it for some reason. 

“I want to find out more about this family day thing, and the coronation,” Mal said thoughtfully. “We need to know when the best chance to grab the wand will be.” 

“Yeah,” Jay muttered. Mal was still very invested in the wand plan but Jay and Carlos had spoken haltingly about what life would be like if they didn’t steal the wand and their parents stayed on the Isle. 

Mal and Evie were lucky in a way. Maleficent didn’t love Mal the way the Evil Queen loved Evie but neither of them had been treated the way Jay and Carlos had been treated by their parents. Mal had ruled the Isle thanks to Maleficent’s influence. Nothing happened to Mal without Maleficent's express approval. The Evil Queen who was more concerned with how ‘fair’ Evie appeared wouldn’t dare raise her hand to the girl. On the other hand, Jay had patched up Carlos more than once after Cruella lost it and Jay had crawled to the treehouse a few times after meeting the business end of Jafar’s useless staff. 

For the boys, there was nothing waiting for them back on the Isle but pain. 

The two walked in silence leaving the dorm wing and found themselves in the indoor gym where the swords and shields teams would practice next semester when the tourney season was over. Jay stopped when he heard the sound of steel on steel and motioned Mal over. 

“What is it?” She demanded. 

“I want to see who’s practicing,” Jay said following the sound of the swords to a circular room with raised bleachers and a space in the middle for matches to take place. Raina stood to the side, her long copper hair was plastered to her forehead, and she had a helmet in her hands. Jay guessed she had just pulled it off. In front of her two people were fighting. Jay would bet good money that it was Lonnie and Aziz. Jay grinned and rushed to the edge so he could watch. Mal followed behind. 

The leaner figure, Lonnie, lunged forward but Aziz blocked an forced Lonnie back. The Chinese girl didn’t let it stop her, she took a step back and suddenly shifted. Instead of moving forward again she sidestepped Aziz’s attempt to follow through on his push back and swept left. Aziz realized what she was doing with just enough time to block but Lonnie was already moving again. 

Jay watched the girl push her advantage forcing Aziz further and further back. She didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and Jay realized what she was doing the same moment Raina did if he were to guess by the smile on her face. 

Lonnie back Aziz up so much he had lost track of where they were in the room and the prince suddenly found himself falling when the back of his knees hit one of the raised portions of the floor. 

“Ooof!” Aziz said as he fell backward onto his butt. 

“Yield?” Lonnie questioned pointing her sword at his neck playfully. 

Aziz laughed and whipped off his helmet and dropped his sword. “Damn it, Lon,” he swore playfully. “I told you to stop doing that to me.” 

Lonnie just laughed and pulled off her own helmet. The long-haired girl tucked it under her arm and offered a hand up to Aziz. “Well, if you stop making it so easy,” she teased pulling him to his feet. 

“Not bad for a hero,” Jay taunted from the bleachers. Beside him Mal looked on with interest, they hadn’t expected a bunch of weak hero kids to fight so well. 

Lonnie turned and gave the boy a smile full of teeth. “Thanks, I’ve only been fighting since I was a kid,” she said tauntingly. “You next?”

“Absolutely!” Jay said eagerly. 

“Nope! It’s Aziz and I next,” Raina said firmly. “Lonnie you need a break, you’ve been fighting non-stop for a while. Get some water and stretch out.” 

Lonnie groaned and gave Raina a pitiful look. The copper-haired girl just shook her head and shooed her friend to the bleachers. “I’ll take that,” She said swiping the helmet from her friend. “Go catch up with Jay and Mal,” Raina said sternly. 

Lonnie slunk up the stairs and flopped down on the bench next to where Jay was sitting. “When Raina beats Aziz we’ll steal the gear,” Lonnie promised. “It won’t take long.” 

“Shut up Lonnie!” Aziz shouted from his place with Raina. “Not everyone is born with a weapon in hand like you.” 

Lonnie laughed and held her hands up. Raina nodded and tossed a bottle of water right to the Chinese girl. Jay playfully snatched the bottle out of the air and presented it to Lonnie with a flourish. 

“Thanks,” Lonnie said taking the bottle. Jay watched her pop it open and down half the water at once. “Ah, maybe Raina was right. A break won’t be too bad.” 

“I’m always right!” Raina shouted. “Now count us off!” 

Lonnie grinned and bounced up. “Alright, kids, I want to see a good fight. Swords only, no hand-to-hand, Aziz! Ready! Set! Fight!” 

Lonnie watched for a few seconds and then fell back into her seat. “So what’s up with you two?” Lonnie asked turning slightly to look at Mal and Jay. 

“Just lurking around,” Jay remarked. “You know, getting up to no good.” 

Lonnie giggled and Jay smirked. Mal beside him rolled her eyes at Jay’s flirting with the Chinese girl. 

“Speaking of no good,” Lonnie said shooting Mal a look. “I hear and saw what you did with Jane’s hair. It looks great.” 

Mal preened at the praise. “Just a simple spell,” she said mock humbly. 

“Hopefully it doesn’t get around that it was a spell,” Lonnie said. “Fairy Godmother is really strict about magic use, especially if you aren’t in her magic class.” 

“It’s not my fault that they won’t put me in the magic classes,” Mal shot back. “Plus it was just a simple hair glamour. It’ll fade in a few weeks anyway.” 

“Gateway magic,” Lonnie said imitating Fairy Godmother’s voice. Mal, Jay, and Lonnie all laughed. 

“So, hey, are you excited for family day?” Mal asked awkwardly. Jay wanted to laugh at Mal’s poor transition. Lonnie politely didn’t comment on it. 

Lonnie shrugged. “Yeah I guess,” Lonnie said. “It’ll be nice to see my parents and Aziz’s family. Even though I see my brother all the time.” 

“Oh yeah,” Jay said. “Assistant Coach Li is your brother.” He felt kind of stupid that he hadn’t really connected the dots before. 

“Yeah, it’s no fun having your older brother hanging around,” Lonnie said. “But he’s not the worst person I guess.” 

“So you said almost everyone is going to show up,” Mal said watching Aziz force Raina backward in an attempt to do the move that Lonnie had used on him. 

“Yeah,” Lonnie agreed and Jay could see her wince. “Oh, that might be a little awkward for you guys huh?” 

Jay liked that Lonnie wasn’t afraid to reference they were villains. Everyone else either tried to ignore that they came from the Isle or they focused on it too much. Lonnie and her friends really didn’t shy away from their parents' history. 

“If you guys aren’t with Prince Ben, you’re welcome to be with me and my family,” Lonnie said. “We aren’t royal so, it probably won’t be so awkward. If you want, that is. Raina will be bouncing between Aziz and me so it won’t be weird.” 

Jay wasn’t sure what to think about Lonnie being so quick to offer her family. Surely the great Generals wouldn’t be happy that their daughter was hanging around with villains, no matter what Lonnie thought. And there was no way Aladdin and Jasmine would be happy with Aziz getting within one hundred feet of Jay. 

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Mal said. 

“Okay, okay, you win!” Aziz cried. “Let Jay and Lonnie battle it out now. I’m tired of you guys bullying me!” 

Lonnie laughed and stood. “You big baby, come on Jay, let’s show these two how it’s done,” Lonnie said with a smile. 

“You’re on!” 

\--

Family day was an absolute mess like it always was. Aziz had heard about the absolute disaster that was the video call to the Isle that Fairy Godmother set up. He couldn’t believe the fairy had thought this was a good idea. 

Aziz’s parents had just arrived and the prince of Agrabah had practically jumped on his dad the minute he walked through the door. “Dad! Mom!” Aziz wrapped his arms around his father who hugged him back just as tightly. 

“Aziz!” Aladdin said pulling back to look his son over. Aziz had dark shaggy hair and even darker eyes, he was tall and lean and as much as he looked like his father, Aladdin claimed he looked more like his mother. 

“Stop hogging him,” Jasmine scolded pulling her husband away from their son. “It’s my turn.” 

Aziz folded into his mother’s hug and grinned when he noticed that he was taller than her. This was a relatively new thing, only within the last year or so had Aziz hit his growth spurt. Aladdin had assured him that they were both late bloomers and Aziz had suffered Lonnie and Raina’s teasing and that wasn’t much of a comfort. 

“How have you been?” Jasmine asked looking at her son as if looking for injuries. “How’s school?” 

“I’m fine, school is fine,” Aziz assured them. “No detentions thus far, I’ve been a perfect angel.” 

Aladdin laughed loudly and Jasmine shook her head. “That, I doubt,” the Sultana said dryly. 

Aziz gasped and clutched his heart as if he were wounded. 

“How are Lonnie and Raina? Are the Generals coming?” Aladdin asked. He knew better than to expect Lord Robin Hood to attend. 

“Yeah, Lonnie said they’re coming and I told Raina she could hang out with us if she wanted,” Aziz said knowing his parents wouldn’t mind. 

“Of course,” Jasmine said. “Raina is always welcome here.” 

“Good,” Aziz said before continuing more hesitantly. “I, uh, also invited the Isle kids to hang out, you know, since their parents are, uh, well their parents.” 

The Sultan and Sultana froze for a moment before they seemed to come back to themselves. “You seem to be pretty good friends with these kids,” Aladdin remarked looking at his son thoughtfully. 

Aziz shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s Lonnie’s fault, she started it,” he said sheepishly. 

“We’re proud of you,” Jasmine reassured him. “Now come on, let's go join the festivities.” 

Aziz left his with parents to join the party outside. It was a beautiful day in Auradon, perfect for Family Day. 

“Oh there’s Raina and Lonnie,” Aziz said catching sight of his friends. “It looks like the Generals are there too!” 

“Great! I need to talk to Shang,” Aladdin said cheerfully. “Let’s join them.” 

Aziz waved wildly until General Shang nudged his daughter to get her attention. 

Aziz moved to stand with his friends and his parents moved to speak with the Generals. “Aziz,” Lonnie said seriously. “Have you seen the Isle kids?” 

Aziz shook his head. “No, I’ve been with my parents,” Aziz said confused. “Is something wrong?” 

“We heard some things,” Raina said softly. “King Philip isn’t happy and there has been some grumbling from the Charmings too.” 

“Any chance they are with Ben?” Aziz asked. King Philip and the Charmings could cause all kinds of problems for the Isle kids if they were so inclined.

“It’s possible but, we haven’t had a chance to get closer,” Lonnie said, frustrated. As non-royals, even with their high military status, the Li family couldn’t just walk up to the high king and queen. 

“Walk with me,” Aziz said. He was the highest ranked royalty of his friends. “I’ll go say hi to Ben.” 

Aziz turned to tell his parents where they were going when someone screamed. 

“That was Queen Leah,” Raina said pained She looked at her friends concerned. “If she saw Mal…” 

Without a word Aziz, Raina, and Lonnie ran from their parents to where they had heard Queen Leah scream. 

\--

Jay wanted to snarl at the Auradon royalty who were just standing there watching. Ben had tried to step up, tried to calm things down but it hadn’t been enough. 

Then, of course, Chad had to make it worse and Evie had used the sleeping potion. That hadn’t won them any points here. On the Isle, you used whatever you had, anything you could to protect yourself. Concepts of honor or rules were non-existent and if you were attacked you attacked back.

“How can you make your our children go to school with them?” Someone shouted Jay couldn’t tell who for sure. The shouting didn’t stop there more and more students and their parents joined in. 

“They’re villains!” 

Jay stood up straighter. It hadn’t been the first time someone called him a villain in Auradon. At first, he had taken it as a compliment. Now, it made something in his chest hurt. 

“They’re evil!” 

What was evil anyway? Was it attacking a bunch of kids in public?

“Just like their parents!”

Who else would they be like? The barrier that surrounded the Isle was a practical force that repelled good things and held tight to the bad. Was there any way they could be anyone else?

“Send them back to the Isle!” 

Panic rose up within him. They couldn't go back. Not yet. They didn’t have the wand. Auradon had made them weak. Jay was full and well rested. Nothing hurt, he wasn’t afraid to go home anymore. He _had_ things. Things that he bought with his own money. Money that wasn’t Jafar’s. Anything he stole was _his_. They couldn’t go back, at least not without the wand, and if Jay had a say, not ever. 

“Hey, come on, let’s get out of here,” a soft but firm voice said. Jay turned slightly and blinked in surprise. Lonnie had appeared beside him. Jay hadn’t even noticed when Lonnie, Aziz, and Raina had arrived. Aziz had gone to Mal and Evie and Raina was whispering to Carlos who looked as shocked as Jay felt. Beside him Jay could see the fierce look on Lonnie’s face, she looked resolute and ready to fight. 

“We don’t need your help,” Mal snarled jerking away from Aziz’s touch. The Prince of Agrabah held up his hands in surrender but didn’t back off, didn’t show weakness.

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that,” Aziz said soothingly. “But you shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.” 

Jay jerked liked someone had struck him. On the Isle, they had only ever had each other. There had never been anyone else. Not their parents, not any of the other Isle kids, not the so-close-yet-so-far Kingdom of Auradon, they had always known that they could only count on themselves. 

But now, here, in this strange Kingdom with strange rules that were completely opposite of life on the Isle they had allies if Jay weren’t an Isle kid, he might even almost say they had friends.


	3. Mal, Lonnie & Raina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last part of book 1! There will be a sequel so keep an eye out! This is where we really get a look at Mal and her thoughts. We also circle back to Lonnie and get some idea of what goes on with her during the coronation. This is pretty different from the movie so I hope everyone likes it.

The others were wavering, Mal could tell. Carlos wanted the wand the least. Carlos had always been, Mal didn’t want to say the weakest because that wasn’t true, but Carlos was the most fragile. For all that the Evil Queen sheltered Evie and for all that Jafar truly hated Jay Carlos was the one who truly _suffered_ on the Isle of the Lost. Not even Mal whose mother had deemed her unworthy of her own _name_ had suffered like Carlos had. 

So for that Mal forgave the boy with two-toned hair. She let him play with his puppy and let him enjoy the spoils of the Kingdom in ways she didn’t permit Jay or Evie. She had to maintain the support of Jay and Evie. Evie, who she had grown closer and closer with since her return to life after Maleficent’s banishment of the little princess and her mother after the intentional snub, was Mal’s rock. If the young fae believed in friends, Mal would say that Evie was her best friend.

However, Mal was very familiar with Evie’s faults and while she was as loyal as Isle kids could afford to be (and maybe more but Mal would never test it, never put herself in a position to lose) Evie longed for comforts. Evie was a princess and had been raised like one, she craved the lifestyle that Auradon had presented and she wanted it so much that Mal could see herself twisting and changing herself in hopes of ‘snagging’ a prince to make sure she didn’t have to return to the Isle if something were to happen. 

As much as she didn't’ want to admit it Jay was probably further gone than both Carlos and Evie combined. The thief had found something here that Mal didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. In some ways, Jay was softer than Carlos. Far too protective and far too willing to do _anything_ for the ones he claimed as _his_ Jay was perfect for Auradon, no matter how rough around the edges he was. 

Mal wanted to scream because she was compromised too. The soft looks on Ben’s face when he looked at her made something inside of her hurt. She could remember how she felt when she thought Ben was drowning, the fear she felt was like when she had first found Carlos beaten and bloodied by the woman who called herself his mother. It wasn’t until later that she hadn’t even thought about the ramifications of the Crown Prince dying with only an Isle kid as a witness. She thought of her mother’s reaction, she thought of the scathing words the woman would have said, how Maleficent would have cursed the weakness of her daughter. Cursed the humanness, the blood that made her _less_. 

Mal was always less in her mother’s eyes. Less, not worthy, weak, these were words Maleficent had said to her for as long as Mal could remember. Nothing was ever good enough for the evil Faerie and Mal knew it. 

That’s why she struck out, she gathered the best kids of the Isle and used them, claimed them, made them _hers_ and ruled the parts of the Isle that Maleficent found beneath her notice. Mal tried to be just as cruel and evil as her mother, but nothing worked. Her actions were seen as child’s play, her schemes were seen as poorly thought out and her company was seen as pathetic. 

Mal wanted to scream at her mother, demand to know what she needed to do, rage that Maleficent had no right to judge her, she had **failed**! She had been bested and forced into the hellhole known as the Isle of the Lost. Maleficent had, not Mal but she held her tongue. She bit back the bitter, cutting words because nothing would come of it. 

Maleficent had never raised a hand to Mal but Mal knew, she knew if she crossed that line Maleficent would do far worse. 

There were stories on the Isle, practically whispers of those who angered Maleficent. Once, when Mal was very young someone had kidnapped her. The purple haired girl had been, maybe four years old at the time, she could barely remember it but Maleficent enjoyed telling the story when her enemies were brought before her. The kidnapper thought Mal was Maleficent’s weakness. He held Mal for three days before Maleficent's minions found them. He was still rotting in Maleficent’s dungeon. 

Mal was sure that King Beast hadn’t intended for those on the Isle to be immortal but that was what happened. The barrier kept in everything, including souls. Maleficent had made the kidnapper beg for death. He had been beaten, drowned, burned, and torn apart yet still he lived. 

There was no way to escape the Isle, not even through death. 

It was that fear that drove her. It was that desire to finally be seen by her mother that made her want the wand so badly. It was those thoughts that made her move forward even when everything inside of her screamed not too, even when Carlos begged her with his eyes to ignore the task their parents set forward. Mal wasn’t strong enough to say no to her mother. 

They were going to steal the wand, free their parents, and then? Mal wasn’t sure and that frightened her. 

\--

Family day was an utter shitshow, Lonnie thought to herself. She, the Isle kids, Raina, and Aziz were hiding in Jay and Carlos’ room. The Isle kids had tried to brush off the three Auradon kids but Lonnie had refused to bow to Mal’s flashing green eyes. She wasn’t afraid of dragons. 

“Here, I got hot chocolate,” Raina said pushing open the door. The young Lady of Sherwood Forest had disappeared to the kitchens when everyone had settled. Lonnie jumped to her feet to help with the mugs, Raina had grabbed a serving tray to carry them all. 

“Here,” Lonnie said carefully handling the hot mug to Carlos. “Careful, it’s hot.” 

Carlos took the mug curiously and Lonnie’s heart hurt because she knew the Isle kids had never had hot chocolate before. 

“It’s the plain stuff,” Raina said handing Evie a mug. “Because I didn’t know how everyone took theirs, but it’s the good stuff.” 

“What is it?” Mal asked peering into the mug cautiously. 

“Hot chocolate,” Aziz said sipping his drink. “It’s great, like candy but as a drink.” 

Lonnie tried not to be surprised when Jay took a sip of everyone’s drink before they took their own. She wanted to ask why Jay was the tester but she held her tongue as the boy hummed happily with each sip. 

“Good call,” Lonnie said softly to Raina. Raina flashed a vulpine grin. 

“This is good,” Carlos muttered into the mug. Dude, who was never far from Carlos’ side sniffed at the mug curiously. “No Dude, you can’t have any, chocolate is bad for dogs.” Dude whined pitifully until Carlos scratched behind his ears. 

The group fell into silence while everyone drank their hot chocolate. The Isle kids would glance up at Lonnie, Aziz, and Raina but no one spoke until Aziz spoke up. 

“They shouldn’t have done that,” Aziz said softly. Lonnie could tell that he didn’t want to break the atmosphere, but he needed to speak up. “Ben should have done something instead of letting everyone gang up on you.” 

“Why do you even care?” Mal snarled at Aziz, her eyes flashed emerald green. “Go back to your families, we don’t need you.” 

Lonnie could tell she looked as unimpressed as Raina and Aziz did. 

“You come in, pretend to help us,” Mal said building up steam. “We don’t owe you anything! We didn’t ask for help!” 

“I don’t remember saying that you owe me anything,” Lonnie said casually. “Raina, did you? What about you Aziz? No? Thought so.” 

“Then why do you keep helping us?” Jay asked. 

The Isle kids were clustered together on Jay’s bed. Lonnie and her friends were on Carlos’ and Lonnie couldn’t help but feel a divide between them. 

“You’re our friends,” Raina said simply. She held her mug of hot chocolate close to her face and peered out at the Isle kids with dark eyes. 

“We don’t have friends,” Evie said stiffly. 

“Friendship is a weakness,” Mal spat hunching in on herself. 

Aziz gave Lonnie and Raina a helpless look. They didn’t know how to tackle this. The Isle kids were totally against the idea of friendship, even though the relationship that the four of them was one of the strongest friendship bonds that Lonnie had ever seen. 

“Maybe it is on the Isle,” Lonnie said slowly. She didn’t want to make them angrier. “But you’re in Auradon now and trust me,” Lonnie said thinking back to her mother’s own story. “There is nothing stronger than friendship.” 

\--  
After she, Aziz, and Raina had finished their hot chocolate Evie had asked that they be left alone. Reluctantly Lonnie had packed up and left, she told Mal that if they needed anything they could reach out to her.

“We didn’t reach them,” Raina said when they left. “Did you see Mal’s face? Her eyes? She didn’t believe a word we said.” 

“I know,” Lonnie said shaking her head.

“Hey,” Aziz said wrapping an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay. We’ll make sure they know we are their friends, okay?” 

Lonnie and Raina gave Aziz a doubtful look but the dark haired boy grinned. “After the coronation when all the kings and queens are gone, they’ll be fine.”

“I hope so,” Lonnie said doubtfully. 

Lonnie spent the night with her parents. She hadn’t been able to imagine spending the night with Audrey after what had happened during Family Day. 

“I don’t know what to do,” Lonnie said pulling her pillow over her face. 

Shang laughed at his overdramatic daughter and pulled the pillow away. Time had been kind to Li Shang. His temples were just beginning to gray but he was still strong and ready to fight. “Well suffocating yourself won’t solve anything,” Shang said laughing. 

“It would make me feel better,” Lonnie said with a pout up at her father. 

“Your mother would be furious with me if I let you do it though,” Shang pointed out. “And we both know she could take me in a fight.”

Shang sat on the edge of the bed Lonnie had taken over. Li Shang and Fa Mulan had graciously taken King Adam and Queen Belle’s offer to all of the prominent figures in Auradon to stay in guest quarters until the coronation the next day. 

“I just don’t know what to do,” Lonnie said pitifully. “I want to help them, but they won’t let me.” 

Shang smiled down at his youngest child. Lonnie knew he was seeing her mother. “Sometimes people aren’t smart enough to take help when it’s offered to them,” he said almost fondly. “It’s hard for people to see that they even need help.” 

“But they’re hurting so badly,” Lonnie said. She could see it. Lonnie, like her mother and her father before her, was a protector. That’s how she became friends with Raina. For the young archer’s stoicism and strength, the first year at Auradon was tough. An outsider in many ways the other girl hadn’t really needed Lonnie’s protection or help but she had taken it as a sign of friendship. 

“You’ll figure it out,” Shang said confidently. “I know you will.” 

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to figure out!” Lonnie said. “How do you get people to trust you?” 

Shang paused thoughtfully but a voice from the doorway answered Lonnie’s question. “Well, saving their life in the heat of battle helps,” Fa Mulan said cheekily. 

“That works,” Shang admitted standing to greet his wife. Lonnie pushed herself up and smiled at her mother. 

“I hope it wouldn’t come to that,” Lonnie said. “But I guess if nothing else works, I could try it.” 

\--  
The day of the coronation was fairytale perfect, Lonnie thought to herself. Lonnie, Raina, and Aziz were positioned to watch the whole thing from the upper balcony. The Generals would have warranted closer seats but neither Mulan nor Shang were comfortable using their influence that way. Lonnie’s older brother stood on the opposite side of Mulan and the two were speaking softly. 

“Hey, it’s the Isle kids,” Aziz said waving his arm. He caught Jay’s attention and the larger boy tugged Carlos and Evie to their group. 

Lonnie and Rain greeted them with a smile and the three did their best to smile back. Lonnie and Raina shared a covert look but shrugged it off. There were dozens of people who were capable of handling anything that went wrong today. Including Lonnie’s own parents. 

“Your outfits look amazing,” Mulan said truthfully. The Isle kids looked great, they always did. Lonnie knew it was because of Evie’s talent with a sewing machine. 

“Thank you,” Evie said with a slight blush. “I made them.” 

Mulan’s eyes widened in surprise and she smiled at the blue-haired girl. “You have an amazing talent,” Mulan told her. “You and I will have to talk after, if you’d like, I’ve never been good at fashion but I recognize talent when I see it.” 

Evie was stunned, everyone could tell, but she thanked Mulan softly and let the boys turn her around gently. Lonnie watched as Jay squeezed her shoulder and Carlos took her hand. She didn't know why they did it, but she smiled at their relationship. They really were great friends.

Then Jane grabbed the wand and everything fell apart. 

\--

Mal was shaking. Maleficent stood before her and her crew stood at her back. The wand was in her hand and everything was too much. “Give me the wand!” Maleficent snarled snapping her fingers. “Give it here, brat!” 

Mal shook her head but couldn’t find it in her to say anything. Something she had learned long ago flashed in her head. Tools, objects of power like Fairy Godmother’s wand couldn’t be taken. They had to be given or won. Fairy Godmother had let go of the wand when she and Jane fought over it, and it belonged to Jane at the moment. Then Mal overpowered the poor girl and won the wand. It was Mal’s.

The wand sang in her hand. A power she had only felt deep under her skin sparked and sang within her. Maleficent couldn’t touch her, not as long as she had the wand, not unless she was ready to fight. 

“Mal,” Jay whispered from behind her. “Undo the spell, they can help.”

They, the people of Auradon. Maleficent had appeared the moment the barrier fell and the wicked fae had frozen everyone. Ben, King Adam, from the corner of her eye Mal could even see Lonnie and the others standing back where they had been left watching, in horror unable to move. 

“I can’t,” Mal said both to Jay and Maleficent. 

“You can’t,” Maleficent hissed. The tall, thin women practically glided toward them. Mal felt Evie take her free hand and felt Jay and Carlos move closer. “Mal, you know better than this, give me the wand.” 

“Mal,” Jay hissed. “The spell!” 

“I can’t!” Mal said again. She didn’t know enough magic. The Isle had robbed her of a magical upbringing and Auradon had kept her from a magical education. The power from the wand sparked deep within her but felt stuck. 

Mal had never seen her mother at full power. She had heard stories and seen the shell that the Isle forced her to become but nothing could have prepared her for this. Power seemed to emanate off of the evil fairy. She was clothed in darkness and her eyes glowed an inhuman green, in response, Mal could feel her own eyes glowing in return., 

Not even the barrier had been able to fully contain Maleficent’s power. Mal remembered a time, after time, being forced to battle her mother both of their eyes burning green. It was a pure battle of wills when their eyes locked. Mal screamed but didn’t dare look away. Maleficent’s will tore into her, her headache and she was left shaking but still, the wand stayed in her hand. 

“Give me the wand girl!” Maleficent roared, a bright green flash of light building behind her. 

“NO!” Mal shouted. “You can’t have it!” 

\--

Lonnie could move. Beside her Raina and Aziz, both sprang into action at the same time. They weren’t sure what caused it but later Lonnie would bet it had something to do with the purple light that came from Mal the same way the green came of Maleficent. 

“Mal! Run!” Lonnie shouted from the balcony seating. The Isle kids turned to her in shock but scattered when Maleficent's attention came to them. 

Raina had disappeared the moment Lonnie shouted. Lonnie stopped only long enough to grab her mother and father’s swords from their belts before she and Aziz too ran down to the floor where Maleficent stood. 

“Here,” Lonnie said shoving her father’s sword at Aziz. Maleficent roared again, this time sounding more and more inhuman. “I don’t know what we are going to do but we’ve got to do something.” 

“Mal has the wand, maybe she can stop her?” Aziz guessed. 

“She’s too scared,” Lonnie remarked. “Find her, protect her.” 

Lonnie and Aziz locked eyes. “You got this?” 

Lonnie laughed nervously. “Dragons like my family, I’ll be fine,” Lonnie said jokingly. 

The two bumped forearms and Lonnie watched Aziz dart away looking for the Isle kids. Lonnie took a deep breath and marched forward. 

“Hey, Maleficent!” Lonnie yelled drawing her mother’s sword. “You weren’t invited!” 

\--

Mal was shaking. Jay had pulled her away while Carlos took Evie. It was their best bet Maleficent wasn’t looking for Carlos or Evie. She wasn’t even looking for Jay but Jay would have never left Mal. “She can’t have it,” Mal said to herself. “She can’t.” 

“Hey, hey,” Jay said trying to get the purple haired girl’s attention. Jay had hidden them just outside of the great room. He wasn’t sure how Lonnie and the other’s were free but he sure hoped they weren’t the only ones. A couple of kids were no match for Maleficent. “Mal, come on, you have to unfreeze everyone,” Jay said. “Get it together.” 

“I can’t!” Mal said shaking her head. “Mother is too strong!” 

“You can do it!” A voice said from behind them. Jay and Mal turned to see Aziz carrying a sword. Aziz looked pale despite his skin tone but he was fine and alone. “You freed, Raina, Lonnie and me!” 

Mal just shook her head. “That was an accident,” Mal said. “I’ve screwed up. If I had just given her the wand, it would have been okay, but I told her no. No one tells her no!” 

Mal whined and curled in on herself. There was nothing more frightening than her mother’s anger. Just as she thought that the whole building shook and a dragon roared. 

“Shit!” Aziz swore. “Lonnie’s out there.” 

“By herself?” Jay and Mal asked together, both horrified. 

“Raina took off,” Aziz said. “She told me to protect Mal.” 

“Mal, Auradon needs you. We need you,” Aziz said and the building shook again. “Please or we’re all going to die.” 

Mal looked at Aziz. The prince looked ready to cry and Mal knew it was the worry for his parents, and his friends, it was for Lonnie out there fighting alone. She turned to Jay who looked just as worried. They had decided to be good, just before Maleficent showed up, made a pact, to be better than their parents. 

“Please Mal,” Aziz begged. “You’re the only one who can stop this, please.” 

Mal stood up and tightened her grip on the wand. “Let’s go stop my mom.” 

\--

Lonnie slapped a hand over her mouth and bit back a scream. Her leg burned. Fighting a fire-breathing dragon was much more difficult than story books would tell you. Maleficent was just toying with her, Lonnie knew this. She hadn’t dealt with a ‘hero’ in such a long time that Lonnie was almost amusing to her, but the girl could tell the villain was growing tired of playing. 

“How did King Phillip manage this?” Lonnie asked herself. She very purposefully did not look at her leg and did her best to ignore the throbbing burning pain. 

Her long dark hair had fallen from its elaborate style and hung in her face. Her dress had long since been sacrificed to flames and Lonnie knew from their frozen position her parents had to be going out of their mind with worry but there was nothing she could do. Lonnie was buying time for Aziz to convince Mal to undo the spell.

The purple-haired girl had seemed so scared when she saw her mom. Lonnie had felt sick when she saw the fear. No one should fear their parents like that. 

Lonnie pushed herself up and darted out from behind the pillar she was hiding behind. “Hey! Lizard-breath, over here! Is that all you’ve got?” Lonnie taunted. 

The dragon roared again and dove at her. 

“Oh shit!” Lonnie cried dodging. 

“Lonnie! Move!” 

Lonnie moved on instinct and Maleficent roared in pain. From her place on the ground where she had thrown herself she could see arrows, having just barely pierced Maleficent's scales, in the dragon’s back. 

Raina. Lonnie thought. There she’s is. 

“Lonnie!” Another voice called, this time closer and Lonnie blinked when she felt hands on her arms. Jay and Aziz hauled her to her feet. “Your leg!” 

“Don’t look at it,” Lonnie said wobbling for a moment before she found her feet. “It doesn’t hurt if you don’t look at it.”

“That’s not how that works,” Aziz scolded his friend. 

“Eh,” Lonnie said waving him off. “Mal, think you can provide some magical support for us? Raina and I can’t do this on our own.” 

“I can try,” Mal said. She sounded braver than Lonnie had ever heard. 

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Lonnie told her. “We can give you some time to figure out the spell, but I can’t promise forever.” 

Mal shook her head. “I’ll work as fast as I can,” she promised. “Stay safe.” 

“Right, boys? Ready to go to war?” Lonnie asked Jay and Aziz. 

\--

Raina transformed the moment she could move. Her small fox form was perfect for this. She ignored Maleficent and the shouts of her friends. She hoped they wouldn’t be mad at her for this, but Raina had heard stories of fighting dragons before and they needed all the help they could get. Maleficent couldn’t have frozen the whole kingdom. Someone needed to sound the alarm and hopefully get an army here, and do it fast. 

The fox darted between frozen dignitaries and kings and queens. She ran easily down the stairs and made it outside faster than anyone else could have. Of course, there were no guards outside. 

King Beast was beyond arrogant. Never in his life did he expect someone to attack during his son’s coronation. All the guards were inside or who knows where on the grounds. Raina pushed herself to run as fast as she could until finally, she saw someone. Raina shifted mid-jump. The shift from fox to human was smooth and Raina was speaking the moment she could. “Sound the alarm, Maleficent, is here,” She said breathing harshly. “And get me your bow.” 

\--

Lonnie dodged another swipe of dragon claws and grinned when she saw the Maleficent had been blinded by Evie’s mirror again. The blue-haired girl was playing support with Raina up high while she, Aziz, and Jay stayed underfoot and did their best to distract the dragon from the frozen people behind her. Her rage helped with that. 

Lonnie could hear Mal working to make up a spell to unfreeze everyone but it hadn’t happened yet. “Aziz!” Lonnie screamed when her best friend took a hard hit that sent the boy flying back. 

Before she or Jay could run and check on him Maleficent stopped hard and shook the building again and Jay shouted. “She’s going to bring down the building if this keeps up!” 

“Mal! We’re running out of time!” Lonnie screamed again. 

Maleficent roared again but in a flash of bright light, the dragon melted back into a woman. “Ancestors protect me,” Lonnie whispered. Maleficent was done playing around. 

\--

“I’m done playing with you, children,” Maleficent said. Mal shuddered at her mother’s tone but kept trying. Lonnie, Jay, and the others were trying so hard, she had to do the same. “If you won’t give me the wand, Mal, I’ll kill you and take it.” 

“You won’t touch her!” Jay shouted moving to stand in front the evil fairy. 

Maleficent looked at him like a bug and sneered. “You are one thousand years too early to be challenging me, boy!” and then Mal heard Jay scream. 

“Jay!” Mal shrieked. Her friend crumbled to the ground and Maleficent's eyes flashed a sickly green. 

“The spell Mal!” Lonnie shouted. “The spell!” 

“And you,” Maleficent said turning on Lonnie. “I’ve had more than enough of you.” From her hand erupted a great ball of green flame and the villain thrust her hand out and the flames rushed toward Lonnie. 

“NO!” Mal heard Raina scream hoarsely. 

Mal watched as the flames seemed to devour Lonnie and felt tears stream down her face, and the girl felt something within her crack. Jay lay on the ground, Mal couldn’t even see if he was breathing, somewhere Aziz also lay, Raina, Evie, and Carlos were safe but for how long? Mal snarled and felt her eyes glow green. Maleficent wouldn’t hurt her friends anymore. Never again. 

“Mother!” Mal screamed. “Stop!” 

Maleficent dropped her hand and the figure in the flames dropped to its knees. Mal couldn’t think of it as Lonnie. The girl who had introduced herself to them gave them advice, took care of them after family day, been their friend. She just couldn’t. 

“I won’t let you hurt them anymore,” Mal sobbed. “You won’t hurt anyone ever again.” 

“Oh Mal,” Maleficent said mockingly. “Do you really think you can stop me?” Maleficent moved forward her hand, the same hand that conjured the flames, outstretched like she was going to stroke Mal’s face. “You foolish girl, you can never beat me.” 

“I can try,” Mal said breathlessly and she thrust her palm out and Maleficent went flying. 

\--

Everything hurt and something smelled like burnt hair. Lonnie groaned and pushed herself up and tried not to throw up. “Lonnie!?” Rain, that was Raina’s voice. Lonnie squinted at the blurb that was probably Raina and groaned again. 

“You’re alive!” Raina said crying. Raina never cried, Lonnie thought. “I thought she killed you!” 

“What?” Lonnie managed to force out. 

“How did you? Never mind, that’s not important. Can you stand?” Raina asked rapid-fire fast. “I’ve got Jay and Aziz. Carlos and Evie are watching them.” 

“Where’s Maleficent?” Lonnie asked. “What about Mal?” Vaguely she could hear fighting but Lonnie had her eyes closed and didn’t want to open them again. 

“They’re fighting,” Raina said. “Mal saw you go down and something just snapped.” 

“Are we winning?” Lonnie asked. 

Raina didn’t answer and Lonnie forced her eyes open and saw Raina’s grim face. 

“Hand me my sword,” Lonnie said pushing to her feet. 

“Lonnie, you can’t!” Raina said. “You’re hurt, badly!” 

“Doesn’t matter, gotta help Mal finish it,” Lonnie said scooping up her mother’s sword. The sword was in perfect condition, it had been her grandfather’s blade the one he used during his war and the one Mulan had used during hers. “Look, you stay, help Evie and Carlos, I’ll help Mal,” Lonnie said looking at her best friend. “I’ll be okay.” 

Rain nodded and pulled Lonnie in for a quick hug. “Kick her ass.” 

\--

Mal was tired. Rage could only do so much when fighting experience and pure evil. “Getting tried Mal?” Maleficent taunted. “Where did all the power go? That anger? Do I need to kill another one of these Auradon weaklings to get your fired up again? How about the prince this time? Would that help?” 

“You won’t touch him!” Mal shouted slashing with the wand. Maleficent howled as the magic pushed her back. “You won’t hurt anyone else!” 

Maleficent stood from the double over position she had forced herself in after the last attack and snarled. “You are weak! Protecting these humans! I raised you worse than this! I raised a killer! A villain!”

“And I brought you into this world Mal,” Maleficent said with a mocking smile. “And now I’m taking you out.” Mal watched as her mother brought up the staff and closed her eyes tightly. 

“I don’t think so!” 

Mal’s eyes snapped open. 

“The girl from before,” Maleficent snarled. Mal gaped. Lonnie was alive. Lonnie had caught the staff with her sword before Maleficent could bring it down. She was hurt, Mal could see burns all over her. Her leg was the worst but Mal could see dozens more. Her clothing was in tatters and her hair had been burned so it fell unevenly above her shoulders, but she wasn't dead. “How are you alive?” Maleficent demanded. 

“Do you really think you’re the first dragon, I’ve met?” Lonnie taunted. “I’ve played with dragons since I was a kid, you’re nothing compared to the dragons I’ve faced before. Let me show you.” 

Mal watched as Lonnie pushed forward unlocking her sword from the staff and drew it back. For a moment Mal thought she saw something else standing behind Lonnie. A great imposing dragon. “Ahh!” Lonnie screamed as she drew back the sword and swung it, her eyes flashing when the sword hit the staff again. The apparition was gone. 

The room was silent when Mal saw Maleficent’s staff fall. Two pieces fell to the floor with a loud clatter and Maleficent gaped and Lonnie retreated back to where Mal stood. 

“Mal now would be a really good time for that spell,” Lonnie said panting heavily. “I can’t do that again.” 

“Right,” Mal said her eyes flashing green, and for once Maleficent's didn’t flash green in return. “I think I’ve got this.”

“Good,” Lonnie said dropping to the floor, her grandfather’s sword still in hand. 

Mal smiled. “No more games mother, we’re done here.” 

\--

Lonnie laughed as she watched Mal wipe the floor with her mom. The shock of losing her staff was enough to give Mal the upper hand. The purple haired girl beat her mom and finally managed to unfreeze the room. 

Of course, that was the moment the rest of the royal army burst through the door and saw the daughter of Maleficent holding Fairy Godmother’s wand and jumped to the wrong conclusion. 

“Hey! Hey! Stop it,” Lonnie demanded. She shoved a guard away from Mal. “Knock it off, and get Maleficent! She’s over there!” 

“But she has the wand!” the guard argued even as a number of guards went after the fallen villain. 

“Yeah and I have a sword and I’m not afraid to use it if you don’t leave her alone,” Lonnie said practically snarling. 

“Lonnie, it’s okay!” Mal said trying to calm things down. 

“No! I’m done! Done! I fought an evil magic fairy-dragon with a sword,” Lonnie said still snarling. “And I’m done with stupid people.” 

The guard flinched back when Lonnie glared at him and reluctantly let Mal go. Thankfully the new King decided to step in. Lonnie stumbled back and just barely managed to keep ahold of her sword as King Ben, Mal and the Fairy Godmother spoke. 

“Hey, I got you,” someone said slipping their arm around Lonnie’s waist. 

Lonnie turned her head just enough to see Jay. “Thought she killed you,” Lonnie muttered leaning into the larger teen. She was so tired. 

“Nah,” Jay said leading Lonnie away from the commotion, Ben would protect Mal. “Just hurt, a lot.” 

“How’s Aziz?” Lonnie slurred stumbling along. 

“He’s okay,” Jay said adjusting his hold on Lonnie. “Raina and Carlos are taking care of him. Evie went to find a real doctor. He was awake when I came to find you and Mal.” 

“Good,” Lonnie managed. “Our parents are going to be pissed enough without him being dead.” 

Jay snorted. “Yeah that makes sense,” he mumbled.

Lonnie peered down at her hand that held the sword as they walked. “Hey, Jay?” Lonnie asked. “This isn’t normal is it?” 

Jay stopped when Lonnie lifted the hand that held the sword and swore. Where there had been pale skin and painted fingernails was now pale blue scales and wicked sharp claws. “No, Lonnie,” Jay said looking at the girl he was helping. “That’s not normal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for book 1! Let me know what you thought.


End file.
